The Halifax Explosion: Canada’s Worst Disaster Book review

 The Halifax Explosion: Canada’s Worst Disaster by Ken Cuthbertson

2017

Canadian non-fiction

Ken Cuthbertson’s The Halifax Explosion is a non-fiction chronicle of the events and people who all contributed to the worst non-nuclear, man-made disaster in Canadian and global history. The novel tells the stories not only of important captains, politicians, and legislators, but also the effects on the everyday lives of Haligonians, including local black and Mi'kmaq communities.   

The Halifax Explosion is something that has interested me my entire life, but not until reading Cuthbertson’s book did I understand the exact event. On Canada's east coast amidst WWI, Imo, a Norwegian relief ship, and Mont Blanc, a French cargo ship transporting highly dangerous explosives like TNT and benzol, collided in the Halifax harbor. The subsequent explosion obliterated North-End Halifax, killing 2000 people, injuring and blinding thousands more and left more than 25 000 homeless. For those of you familiar with Atlantic geography, the explosions broke windows as far as Truro, and was heard as far as Cape Breton and PEI. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book is how you can go into it with a little or a lot of background knowledge. Cuthbertson’s research shines in The Halifax Explosion; the bibliography and endnotes span pages. The novel paints a full picture of the events and consequences of the disaster.

 

Rating 5/5: The Halifax Explosion is a perfect blend of non-fiction and storytelling that I recommend for anyone interested in learning about one of many events that characterized Canada’s past.